Faith Durand for The Kitchn

The Kitchn's Faith Durand explains how to make a Thanksgiving centerpiece you can eat.

Do you love cream cheese icing? Do you consider it the best part of carrot cake and red velvet cupcakes? If so, then you need to try this recipe. It's old-fashioned, and it takes a little more time, but oh, it's worth it. This is so creamy, so rich — and it tastes of cream cheese all the way.

Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite comfort foods, and it's not hard to make them taste amazing. The easy way, my friends, is fat. A lot of it. I used to work at a restaurant where the cooks dropped a brick of cream cheese, a long swig of cream, and unmentionable amounts of butter into the joint's famous smashed potatoes. So there's that approach.

On Thanksgiving, I don't think any dish inspires quite as much love and jealousy as stuffing. Or, for that matter, technical debate over stuffing vs. dressing. Sure, if it's baked inside the turkey it's stuffing, and if it's not, it's dressing. But to me, it will always be stuffing — it sounds so much more satisfying than dressing, which brings to mind vinaigrette.

The Kitchn's Faith Durand says advance preparation is the key element of every good dinner party and cheerful host.

Roast turkey, sweet potato dinner rolls, pumpkin crème brûlée and more: make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes from The Kitchn.

Quince is the most luscious fall fruit, but not as widely known or easily found as it should be. It holds its secrets tightly inside; quince is very astringent and not pleasant to eat when raw, but when cooked with sugar it turns coral-pink and delicious. It's also very high in pectin, which means that it is practically perfect for sorbet. This fragrant sorbet, spiced with star anise and vanilla, is thick and smooth — more like a sherbet than an icy sorbet — and it makes a wonderful accompaniment to autumn gingerbread and apple cake.

This is a cake that should come with a warning: Only proceed if you love molasses. If you do love molasses and its dark, bitter sweetness, then proceed immediately, and with haste. This cake is dark, fudgy, damp and rich. It's like a chocolate cake for people who don't like chocolate.

Crème brûlée is simply one of the sexiest recipes going. You know that tap-tap moment, when the caramelized crust shatters, and you dip into the creamy custard below? Heaven. The rustic burnt topping makes each bite different and more delicious than the last. I confess, though, that I find classic crème brûlée a little fussy. I do make it and love it (see our basic crème brûlée recipe here), but when I was working on my forthcoming book about pudding, Bakeless Sweets, I wondered whether there was an easier way. Could I make crème brûlée without the oven and water bath?